This invention relates to a bag with a tear-resistant handle. The invention relates particularly to the formation of die-cut handles in heavy-duty bags made from single or multiple polyolefin materials, such as LD, HD, and LLD polyethylene, or other thermoplastic material, as well as other woven or nonwoven, synthetic or non-synthetic materials. Such bags are typically used to package materials such as salt, potting soil, small landscaping rocks, pet food, diapers, and similar materials. While the invention has particular application to bags with a capacity of from 10 to 50 pounds, the principle of the invention is applicable to bags of any size and style.
Conventional, heavy-duty bags of the prior art typically include a die-cut handle with a single lateral opening for receiving the hand of the user. This prior art design distributes the stress imposed on the bag handle to the top end of the bag. Due to the typically heavy weight of these bags and their contents, the force required to lift a bag by its handle when the bag is full or nearly full causes a considerable amount of stress at opposing ends of the handle, and, therefore, on the top end of the bag. In addition, the contents of the bag may jostle and shift while the bag is being carried by the handle such that the contents repeatedly impact the bottom of the bag interior, imposing more stress on the opposing ends of the handle and the top of the bag. These lifting and carrying stresses, especially when repeated, can easily tear the handle away from the top end of the bag, causing premature bag rupture and spillage of the bag contents. Such waste burdens manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers with unnecessary product and packaging replacement and clean-up expenses.
The present invention addresses these and other problems by providing a bag with a die-cut handle that better distributes the load of the bag when carried to resist tearing of the handle. The stresses imposed on the opposite ends of the handle when the bag is lifted by the handle and when the contents of the bag impact the bottom of the bag interior while the bag is being carried by the handle are transferred outwardly towards the sides of the bag rather than perpendicularly upward towards the top end of the bag. Distributing the lifting and carrying forces in this manner increases the life of the handle, thereby increasing the likelihood that the bag will maintain its structural integrity and general utility until it has served its intended purpose. The effect of this improvement over the prior art is a reduction in both the product waste and the packaging waste resulting from bag handle failure.